Choosing the right lens implant

You’ve made the decision to go ahead with cataract surgery, now you need to choose what type of lens to have.

Distance lens

The commonest lens implanted is a monofocal lens that corrects your distance vision very accurately. If you are used to reaching for your glasses or contact lenses first thing in the morning, then you will be pleasantly surprised that you no longer need to do that after cataract surgery. These distance lens implants are very accurate and hugely successful by sharpening the clarity and colour of your vision. You will still need glasses for reading the small print at near afterwards though.

Monovision lens

Some people use contact lenses to correct one of their eyes for distance and one for near. We can replicate this with cataract surgery, and this is called monovision.

Multifocal lens

Another option is to think about a multifocal lens. These implants are a step towards returning to the young time in your life when you could see far and near without any glasses. These are not available on the NHS at present outside of clinical trials. They are not suitable for all patients though (e.g. pilots are not allowed to have them as they can induce glare and halo effects in some cases), and we can discuss this in detail in your consultation.

Astigmatism

If you have significant astigmatism, we may be able to correct that with a toric lens. These are hugely successful in correcting non-complex astigmatism, and I use them a lot. Modern lens implant technology is highly sophisticated, and the lens choice is as individual as you.

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I’m a consultant ophthalmic surgeon with specialist interest in glaucoma, cataract surgery and common red eye conditions such as blepharitis and conjunctivitis.
My patients are people who want to be highly informed, understand all of their options and work together with me to ensure the best possible eye care outcomes.

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Hello, I’m Eye Consultant Laura Crawley

I’m a consultant ophthalmic surgeon with specialist interest in glaucoma, cataract surgery and common red eye conditions such as blepharitis and conjuctivitis.
My patients are people who want to be highly informed, understand all of their options and work together with me to ensure the best possible eye care outcomes.